29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)

29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)'
Active	August 1944
Country	Germany
Allegiance	Adolf Hitler
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Infantry
Colors	White, Blue, and Red
Commanders
Notable commanders	Bronislav Kaminski Christoph Diehm

29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) (German: 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS RONA (russische Nr.1)) was a Waffen SS Grenadier division intended to be formed from the personnel of the S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A. (also known as the Kaminski Brigade) following Heinrich Himmler's order of August 1, 1944. 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) never existed as such. At that time the brigade's manpower was estimated to be 3,000-4,000 men. The reorganization was postponed during the Warsaw Uprising which started that same day. On August 4, 1944 the brigade was ordered to assist in the efforts in crushing the rebellion in Warsaw. A mixed regiment of 1600-1700 unmarried soldiers from the brigade was used against insurgents until the end of August 1944 when German commanders decided that the unit was too undisciplined and unreliable. Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS Bronislav Kaminski and chief-of-staff Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin were said to have been secretly shot by the Germans due to the atrocities and widespread plunder by their troops in Warsaw.^{[citation needed]} The death of Kaminski and unreliability of his troops as a combat unit ended plans to expand the Kaminski Brigade to a division. In 1945 its number was reassigned to 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian).

History

Main article: S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A.

Plans to form a division from the personnel of the S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A. (also known as the Kaminski Brigade) which appeared in 1942 as an anti-partisan formation made of the people from the so-called Lokot Autonomy territory in the Nazi Germany-occupied areas of Russia during World War II. Its leader Bronislav Kaminski named it as Russian Liberation People's Army (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya, RONA). In spring 1943, Kaminski Brigade increased to 10-12 thousand soldiers armed with equipment provided by captured soviet tanks and artillery. From the beginning of its existence the formation was involved in action against partisans and also took part in reprisal operations against the civilian population, committing numerous atrocities against it.

After Operation Citadel, personnel of the R.O.N.A. retreated to Belarus and were stationed in the Lepel area of Vitebsk, and were involved in anti-partisan activities and committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population. In March 1944, the unit was renamed Volksheer-Brigade Kaminski (Peoples Brigade Kaminski) for a brief period, before it was absorbed as a part of the Waffen-SS in June 1944. With its transfer to the Waffen-SS, the brigade was renamed Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, and Kaminski was given the rank of Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS. After Operation Bagration, personnel retreated again further west and by the end of July 1944 remains of the Kaminski unit (3-4 thousands [some sources give 6-7 thousands] were collected at the SS training camp Neuhammer.

Commanders

• Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS Bronislav Kaminski (1 August 1944 - 19 August 1944)
• SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei Christoph Diehm (20 August 1944 - 27 September 1944)

Planned order of battle

• Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 72 (russische Nr.1)
• Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 73 (russische Nr.2)
• Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 74 (russische Nr.3)
• Waffen-Artillerie-Regiment der SS 29 (russische Nr.1)

None of above regiment actually entered into Waffen-SS rank.

See also

• S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A.
• 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Russian)

Book references

• GEORG TESSIN Verbande und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 VIERTER BAND: Die Landstreitkrafte 15—30 VERLAG E. S. MITTLER & SOHN GMBH. - FRANKFURT/MAIN 1970
• GEORG TESSIN Verbande und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 SECHSTER BAND: Die Landstreitkrafte 71-130 BIBLIO VERLAG OSNABRUCK 1972
• Rolf Michaelis Russen in der Waffen-SS
• Antonio J. Munoz Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations of the Waffen-SS

References and sources

• [1]
• Bronislav Kaminski and the RONA
• RONA – Russian National Liberation Army (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya) (Warsaw Uprising Museum)
• The RONA and the Kaminski Brigade
• (German) 29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.1)
• (German) Rolf Michaelis, Die Brigade Kaminski: Partisanenbekämpfung in Rußland - Weißrußland - Warschau
• (German) Rolf Michaelis, Russen in der Waffen-SS